Saturday, June 16, 2012

It is amazing how well kids react in certain situations that would be extremely stressful for the majority of us adults. Recently I attended my daughter's season ending Gymnastics event - Gymfest. This is a big event that they sell tickets to and bring in bleachers for fans to see the kids perform. The athletes work on their routines throughout the year and then perform them at Gymfest.

What happened at Gymfest to my daughter and her cousin was part funny and part scary, for a parent. My daughter's coach had two separate groups performing, who were basically the same age. Unbeknownst to us, my daughter and her cousin were put into the wrong group when they arrived and no one noticed until they walked out to perform a different routine. As we looked on in horror, the girls were a little confused at first, but then followed right a long like they knew what was going on. It was pretty cool to see how these how these little minatures reacted and didn't panic. They just rolled with the punches, something that I'm not always good at it.

The Athletes

My point here is that we are regularly put into situations that my make us feel uncomfortable or unprepared and we panic. Take it from the kids, don't panic and carry on and act like you were meant to be there. I know, easier said than done.

I was so proud of how these 6 year olds acted in this stressful situation and it made me think about how I would react in a similar situation. My conclusion, not well!

My wife tracked down the down their coach, who was at first confused himeself and then very embarrased, after the first performance to let him know what had happened. The girls were then put back with proper group and went out did their second performance of the night. Way to go girls, great performance!